Full Turn Circle
by IDSmehlite
Summary: While at a business party in Japan, Dick stumbles upon a type of crime that not even Batman let's Robin go help bring an end to, at least not as a ten year old. Batman pursuits after Dick all over China while Dick has to face a much different idea to a life he loved and missed by himself.
1. Chapter 1

There is always something to learn, there won't ever be a moment in life where someone becomes omnipotent. While someone may be a professional or expert, there is always room for error or misjudgment. Such is the case with business parties. Business parties were usually boring as people usually talked to Dick about school or Bruce. Japan's business party's were a little more lively, especially the later it got. He wasn't sure if it really was a "business party" at this point anymore. Some of the people here talked to him about places he's been or the languages he knows. It was refreshing to talk about those instead of how well he does in math. Some people here know English or even a third language because it benefits their field. Though a lot just had the basic knowledge of English they learned in school. There're quite a few guys here who are wasted and Dick enjoyed listening to them _try_ and make some comprehensible sentences in English.

Learning new languages was probably one of Dick's favorite hobbies outside acrobats, it was like the times in the circus when he was surrounded by people who used to tell him random words or phrases in their native tongue. The party was fun because people were trying to practice their English with him, and Dick was trying to practice Japanese with them - this resulted in losing the topic many times. Dick noticed they did this to him a lot more than to Bruce, since Bruce was actually fluent in Japanese, but that didn't stop all of them. Dick figured some of them were being modest and wanted Dick to feel better that he messes up their language with the fact that they are bad at his.

Or they really like foreigners and their languages.

He didn't know.

Just two hours after dinner Dick was getting physically and mentally exhausted by this back and forth. Bruce must've noticed how lethargic Dick was starting to look. He leaned down to the ten year old and in English whispered, "Hey kiddo, why don't I call Alfred and he'll bring you back to the condo?"

Not wanting to look like the child that he is, Dick stumbled a little before fixing his demeanor and tried to say in Japanese, " _I'm fine, thanks_."

Bruce wasn't buying it, Dick may be able to have simple conversations in several languages, but the kid wasn't thinking straight when he mixes up 'thanks' and 'please'. Dick noticed his mistake and tried to correct it in vain before Bruce interjects, "I'll have him pick you up in 15 minutes."

There's no arguing with Bruce when he makes a decision. Dick was slightly grateful to finally be leaving soon, but he wished he was leaving _with Bruce_. Dick slumped his shoulders and replied, "I'll go wait down in the lobby then."

Bruce nodded once and watched Dick make his way to the elevator in the hallway just outside the room. If he can't stay late, he can wait downstairs by himself. It didn't take long for the elevator to make it to their floor. When Dick stepped in, there were only a few other people in there. He glanced at the buttons and saw that the first floor was already pushed and stood waiting for the door to close. He looked to Bruce in the seconds before the door closed and the elevator made it's descent. The elevator was one of those fancy ones with windows on three sides so he looked out at the brightly lit Tokyo. It reminded him of Vegas when Bruce and him went there earlier that year. The biggest difference was Tokyo was the largest city in the world. In one direction, he could see the pacific go all the way to the horizon, to every one of his other directions, all he saw were city lights.

He began to imagine that he was now in a world where the entire Earth's surface was covered in cities and water. There were forests still - but they were highly protected national parks in domes and they were always targets of terrorists because they were also the main source of fresh oxygen for cities. There was a guard who just so happened to have the night shift, when suddenly a piece of the dome's ceiling fell right next to the guard - that was a close one! The guard looked up and saw some bad guys throw flares into the dome. A fire quickly starts, but then, suddenly a shadowy figure emerges and somehow stops the fire saving the forest. He faces off against the five bad guys, one of them charges at the hero with a machete, but the hero side steps and grabs the thug's arm which causes him to drop the oversized knife. The hero knees the bad guy's gut-

Dick stopped. The elevator had reached the first floor and he exited with the other occupants. He probably wouldn't want to live in a world like that anyways. He said a quick 'goodnight' to the desk lady before heading for the main door. Another thing like Vegas was Tokyo never went to bed. There were still plenty of people outside and a bunch of stores open, most of them were bars and restaurants. He stayed inside looking at the illuminated characters of store names outside. This side of Tokyo was actually foreigner-friendly with a lot of English text and translations. He saw some older girls walking by who must've thought he looked cute, being a kid in a business suit, judging by their expressions. He humored them by striking a pose he's seen Bruce do for magazines a bunch of times.

He was successful as they continued on their way. He then noticed a car parked about thirty feet from the building in a parking lot that was… shifting weirdly. Only someone with a good eye would've noticed it. He couldn't see anyone in the front or back seat through the windshield which is what confused him. It looked like some invisible person was hitting it. Dick stepped out of the building and looked around the street to see if anyone was watching the car.

When he saw that the coast was clear he went up to the car, it was a small car, a muscle car - which was out of place being an American car, maybe that's why no one batted an eye to the foreign boy going up to a foreign car. Closer inspection confirmed no one was in the front or back seats. But… he went toward the trunk where he could now hear a repeated banging - very hard to notice with all the city noise in the background. He took another look around before going to the trunk to check out the lock. Luckily it was an older model so it had a simple key lock like a regular car door which would make it easier to-

Dick noticed right away when he had people simultaneously on both sides of him, but couldn't account for his back since he didn't have a hidden eye on the back of his head like Bruce and Alfred did. Before he could react, a hand covered his mouth and an arm wrapped around his torso and lifted him off the ground. Dick immediately tried to kick upward above his head to hit the man behind him, but the guy shoved him into the side of the car as they brought him to the driver's side and shoved him into the back seat. The car was quickly filled up with three other thugs and Dick found himself alone in between two men in the back and two in the front.

" _Go! Go!_ " The man in the passenger side yelled at the driver after slamming his door closed. From the tone of his voice, Dick was not part of the equation. Dick continued to struggle in the thug's arms until the man in the other seat pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him. The two men on either side of Dick yelled at one another as they took off his shoes, suit jacket, socks, and tie. The guy holding Dick had a goatee and pulled out thin rope from one of the poaches of the front seats and tied Dick's arms together behind his back. Dick also learned what he assumed were swear words from the guy in the passenger seat. He also took a second to see these guys were all wearing matching black suits with red ties. A gang maybe?

" _Why did we grab him? Why not just scare him away?_ " The one with the gun asked. He was chubby for Japan standards.

" _Shut up and check his pockets,_ " The guy in the passenger seat ordered. The two guys next to Dick rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his wallet, spare key, cell phone, and passport.

The guy who took his passport passed it to the guy in the passenger seat, who Dick identified to be the leader, " _He's a foreigner._ "

The leader gave the lackey a look Dick sees often, the sarcastic, 'No. Really?' look that he swears _every_ crime boss has. The leader pulled out his phone, it was a flip phone - those still exist? - and began typing something on it. Throughout the whole time, Dick hadn't said a word, he _should've_ , but he didn't. The goatee guy finally let go of him since it wasn't like Dick could run away or something in a car with two doors located only in the front. The chubby guy kept the handgun out as he lit a cigar. He didn't know who these guys were and what they did, and Dick could only figure that out and stop them **alive**. He resorted to looking at people outside hoping they would notice the out of place boy with a distressed expression. The chubby guy broke the silence to talk to Dick, " _What were you doing snooping around our car, brat?_ "

Dick didn't reply and only gave him a slight glare. The chubby guy glared back, surprising him with his next question, "What? Do I have to spell it out in English?"

" _Leave him alone, we're not looking for information._ " The goatee guy said instead, " _He must've recognize something weird and went to investigate like the idiot kid he is._ "

" _I had to leave my drink half finished because of him!_ "

The leader replied this time with a deep growl, " _You're drink is not worth more than our operations, I'll buy you a new one if you two shut up._ "

" _Who would believed him? 'Crime doesn't happen in Japan',_ " The chubby guy chuckled with the quote taking a quick puff from his cigar, " _Do people actually believe that?_ "

" _They don't, but that doesn't matter, without much competition we can easily be picked out and if we're not careful, we'll end up on the top of Japan's most wanted,_ " The leader said continuing to fiddle with his phone.

" _Bribe some officials then_."

" _I've been trying to avoid doing that since Taka_."

" _You're as cautious as Taka, you know that_?"

" _Yeah? Well. We certainly got the last laugh on him_."

 _Taka_. Dick isn't sure but he thinks he may have just met a Taka just a few hours ago. So he's taken bribes before? He'll have to talk to Bruce about that once he gets out of this mess.

Eventually they pulled to a stop at a harbor that was deprived of anybody. Right away the two in front got out followed by the two in back, one dragged Dick out by his collar and threw him against a wall. The leader ordered the others to proceed as scheduled before turning to Dick with a gun of his own, " _Look. Brat. I know you can understand me._ "

Dick didn't acknowledge his true remark hoping to try and play the 'innocent clueless foreigner that gets away with things because he doesn't understand their language' card. This guy seemed like he's seen it before however. The crime boss just spun the gun around in his hand as he continued, " _I'll keep it simple. I'd like to ransom you off, but I don't slam the chips down every turn I make. Which is why you're now stuck with us._ "

Dick decided to finally speak up since being quiet hasn't benefit him at all so far. He figured he could try and get some info, " _But you'll cause an uproar anyways. Bruce would get the entire media to know I'm missing._ "

" _That's why I'm going to make you disappear. Do you know what's the most important thing in an investigation?_ "

Of course Dick does. He's the protège of the world's greatest detective after all, well… Robin is. The question is a simple one with a simple answer, but would a normal ten year old know that answer? While Dick was wondering that question of hiding his secret life of crime fighting, the leader answered for him, " _A body_."

There are thousand of unsolved cases out there that could easily be answered if only the police had the body. They would be able to know how they died and be able to make a more accurate idea of what happened on that poor person's last day. Then all they had to do was figure out who would, could, and or didn't kill the victim with any DNA or other evidence that would most likely be found on the body. It was possible to find someone guilty of murder without a body, but it would be difficult when you have to prove the victim was _for sure dead_. Dick thought about all those crime documentaries Bruce and him watched every week. Thinking back to all the cold cases he looked through where the body was lost forever, Dick was admittedly a bit nervous.

The other guys had opened the trunk and dragged out three women who were also tied and dragged them onto a ship docked not too far. Dick should've put two and two together earlier and told Bruce before getting into trouble. Batman didn't take him on trafficking ring busts, but he knew what they were, and now he was face to face with someone who specializes in the act of kidnapping someone and making them disappear with little to no traces to slavery. The driver got back into the car and drove off leaving Dick with the leader. Leader Guy continued his rigmarole, " _I looked you up - even if I had to rely on translation tools, I got enough information. Anyways, now you know too much and you're probably worth more to me alive than dead."_

Leader Guy leaned down closer to Dick's face to intimidate him. Dick kept a calm glare plaster on his as Leader Guy finished, _"Don't worry, you'll find where you're going to be familiar._ "

Goatee Guy came back and muttered something to Leader Guy who in turn just made an acknowledged noise before saying, " _Ok. Yeah, his guardian will probably report him missing the minute he doesn't know exactly where he is. Just grab the kid and we'll go._ "

Dick attempted to crawl what few feet he could while the two were busy, more so to turn on the tracker on his undershirt than to get away. After the two gang members finished their talk, Goatee Guy starting walking toward Dick. When Goatee Guy got close, Dick shot his foot at the side of the thug's kneecap making him fall onto his other knee. Without shoes though, most of the damage is almost null and void, but it still hurt he bet. He's practiced a thousand times on dummies, both living and fake. The thug cursed at him and grabbed Dick by the ankle and dragged him closer before wrapping his other arm around Dick's torso. Dick struggled some more while the guy stood up and held him in the air.

"Help! _Help_! _Somebody_!" Dick yelled swapping between two languages to hopefully make someone curious about the noise or stall for time till Batman arrived. The thug slammed him against the concrete storage building head first. While Dick was dazed from the impact and blood dripped down his cheek, the guy gagged him with his own tie.

" _You want to help?_ " Goatee Guy growled to Leader Guy who's been standing aside watching the struggle.

" _Getting your butt kicked by a kid?_ " Leader Guy mocked. Goatee Guy wrapped his arms under and around Dick's shoulders and lifted him off the ground again. All Dick could do at that point was kick at Goatee Guy behind him with muffled yelling. Leader Guy finally came over and smacked the butt of his handgun into the side of his temple where he was already bleeding. It didn't completely knock the young boy out because the guy was holding back trying not to kill him on accident.

Unfortunately for Dick, his earlier move was in short vain as the goatee guy stripped him down to his underwear and threw a thin, coarse blanket over him. Dick was actually slightly impressed how these guys seem to think of everything when the guy put his clothes in a bag, tied the end shut with a big rock attached and threw it into the ocean. Next time the tracker's going on his boxers. He supposed the only _good_ thing about this situation was the lack of interest the thug had of him as he just carried him over his shoulder onto the ship.

" _Who the hell goes and gets drinks when kidnapping people?_ " Dick weakly jabs at the guy with a thought that he's been wondering about this whole time.

Dick's feeling of awe for how arranged these guys were at their job didn't stop after entering the ship, but it did give him a sinking awful feeling that these guys are professionals because they've probably been doing this for _years_ , maybe decades, and have been getting away every time. The ship looked like any other cargo ship if you didn't have any knowledge of the illegal cargo. In the lower deck, they weaved through the maze like set up, and came upon a false door belonging to what, on the outside, looked like an area of containers with a large tarp over them. Past the false door were three feet by three foot cages lined against the wall in a miniature room with other unfortunate souls who were snatched from the streets. There had to be a dozen young adult ladies and men in here. Dick recognized the other ladies who were riding in the back of the car were here as well. The other kidnapped victims were also stripped of personal belongings at some point after being brought aboard. There were two guards holding rifles chilling around and chatting like guards at Arkham.

While he couldn't see Leader Guy, he could definitely hear him yelling at the other side of the ship. The words were muffled by the distance but he seemed pretty mad. Goatee Guy opened one of the empty cages and tossed Dick in like sac and locked the door before Dick could recover. It was _cold_. He was only wearing his boxers and wrapped in a thin blanket that practically did nothing and he had a headache. Instead of going to sleep he tended his bleeding scalp from the injury earlier, using his tie-gag he tried his best to clean and wrap it.

 **You should tend to your injuries as soon as you can,** Batman's voice echoed in his head as he tied a knot behind his head. It could get infected, and a small problem that could be fixed easily becomes a big problem later. It became pretty obvious that this was where he was going to be staying for a while, so he should start thinking long term.


	2. Chapter 2

Bruce wasn't really planning on staying much longer after Dick. He figured he would end up staying longer than he intended and he didn't want to subject Dick to that. He's felt bad when Dick would fall asleep at the table at banquets and thus stopped bringing him to them as much, but Dick always insisted to go with him to foreign countries. Bruce knew Dick loved to travel, after all that was Dick's life before his parents were murdered. Dick probably didn't notice, but Bruce always knew that the little circus boy hasn't always been comfortable living in a single home in a consistent spot with the same old scenery, same old people, and same old community. Dick's old life had something new every month. He was always dieing to travel any chance he got even if it was the next town over.

Bruce was chatting with the president of WayneTech Japan, things were going well. Bruce had met with some of the engineers, they were definitely creative and determined, but they were always asking for a larger budget for their projects. He'll have to check their projects more closely or hire someone to keep track of where all this money is going into. Though right now they weren't suppose to be talking about work so much and instead they steered the conversation to sports. The conversation was politely interrupted when the faithful butler to the Wayne family had appeared, "Sir."

Bruce gave the subtle signal that all businessmen know to give them a second, so the president bowed before joining in a conversation a few feet away. Bruce turned to his butler, Alfred, and asked, "Hey, where's Dick?"

"That is precisely the reason why I'm here."

"He wasn't in the lobby?"

"Not that I saw, sir," Alfred told him. If Bruce had any sense of concern, he didn't show it outright, but the old man who raised the rich boy for the rest of his teen years could distinguish it. Bruce didn't hesitate to lead the way to the elevator telling some of the people there that he had to leave for a family emergency. He was hoping that Dick had wandered to some other part of the building out of boredom, not that there was much to see, but Dick can find a way to keep himself occupied with just a piece of paper if he wanted to. Bruce hoped to run into his ward in a few minutes and it was just a false alarm. In Gotham, Dick always had a high chance of getting kidnapped and was hardly ever out of sight, that's because Gotham isn't exactly the safest place in the world. But this is Japan, known for it's low crime rate. Criminals know no borders it seems.

Bruce had gone over with Dick how exactly he gets into these dangerous situations, one time Dick had quoted his mother, ' **He's not trouble, he just attracts it.** ' While Bruce can understand that because it's not like Dick enjoys being held captive or actively seeks to be a target. He's usually caught off guard and drugged without a chance of fighting back, plus he's ten… not that hard to overpower. And Alfred - Bruce worries that every time Dick gets kidnapped, a year gets subtracted from Alfred's lifeline. Not that Dick's been kidnapped often, if you don't count Robin.

Stepping in the elevator with Alfred, he was thankful that they were the only ones in there. Bruce was the one to break the silence, "Did you check the bathroom?"

"Yes sir."

"His phone?"

"It's still on."

"He might've gone to one of the stores nearby."

"Doesn't seem like Master Richard to do that before I would get here," Alfred pointed out. Bruce looked out the window at the city that went to the horizon with his arms crossed. He was thankful Gotham wasn't this large. There wasn't too much going on in Japan anyways, besides the Yakuza, but they're a transnational organization crime syndicate. Which means they cross national borders to get their stuff done. So it wasn't surprising to find them in several countries including the U.S.A. trying to smuggle guns into Japan. It's a very large and very rich group, so Bruce could rule them out if they kidnapped Dick since they would have no obvious motive.

Bruce was still coming up for any possibilities for what happened to Dick. It's kinda sad that whenever Dick goes missing at business parties or charity events, it's almost always that he was kidnapped. However, Dick said he was going to wait in the lobby, so how would he have gotten kidnapped? There's the desk lady and several security cameras. The only logical thing is if he left the building by himself.

Once they've reached ground level, Bruce stepped out of the elevator and went straight to the front desk. He asks the desk lady, " _Have you seen a little boy come down here?_ "

" _Yes, he was by the door before leaving about twenty minutes ago,_ " the lady nodded glancing to the front doors. Bruce turned to Alfred with the new information that Dick, was at least not in the building, but why would he leave? Out of habit, Bruce went over whatever facts he currently had.

10:15 - Dick went down to the lobby

10:25 - Dick apparently left the building

10:30 - Alfred arrived - Dick's phone is on but he won't pick up

10:40 - Alfred came up to the room

10:45 - Now

So there are twenty minutes unaccounted for where Dick was and what he was doing. If Dick suddenly turned rebellious and ran off, he could be within a mile radius, but Bruce didn't think he could go far without someone asking where his guardians were or stopped by police. The more Bruce thought about it, that idea didn't seem likely since Japan is known for having police boxes on practically _every_ corner. He would've gotten a call wondering why he wasn't watching his own kid. He went up to the door and looked outside. There were mostly restaurants and bars, both of which wouldn't appeal to Dick since he already ate and certainly can't drink. Well, the first move for Bruce Wayne was to report a missing child to the police.

Well, it would have been if his phone didn't start buzzing in his pocket. Faint hope that it was Dick calling quickly diminished when he saw it was actually a distressed signal from Tokyo Bay.

"What is he doing over _there_?" he muttered baffled at where the locator was signaling from. Bruce turned to Alfred, "You go to the police, I have to get to the harbor."

Without a second to spare the billionaire ran to the stairs and descended into the garage. He jumps into his expensive car and puts it on autopilot to the northern part of Tokyo Bay. While the car gets onto the road, he tints the windows and dawns his new persona, Batman. He takes out a tablet from the passenger side and boots up the batcomputer to write down his notes. He attempted to call Dick but this time the call couldn't get through. Dick's tracker stopped moving on the map, and it concerned him when the tracker indicated that he was _in_ the water. Tokyo Bay would be very cold, especially at night. He got annoyed at any traffic slowing him down wishing he had the batmobile. Would it be faster to grapple his way there? He doesn't know Tokyo as well as Gotham, so he didn't want to take that chance.

He began to think of why Dick would leave the building before Alfred could arrive and how he ended up at Tokyo Bay in less than 20 minutes. He obviously had some sort of transport there. Batman was pretty sure now that Dick had left the building then got kidnapped. For the reason why he left the building - the only thing that seemed reasonable was Dick saw something and his curiousity got the best of him.

He stopped his thought process after finally arriving at a harbor. It was now 11:00 p.m. It took 15 minutes just to get here. He exited his civilian car making sure no one was around and no cameras. Disregarding everything there, he made a beeline to the water's edge and jumped in. He wasn't taking any chances, he needed to get to where the tracker is first, but this harbor was for large ships so it was _deep_. Too deep in fact, but Batman didn't care. It was also freezing but his suit helped keep his body at a reasonable temperature. He sunk to the bay's floor and looked at his device again, it was one of the few devices he has that wouldn't break under high water pressure. He couldn't see anything and the only source of light came from the glowing screen and a small flashlight he held. He was right above where Dick should be, but all he could find was a plastic bag. Running out of air and the pressure giving him a headache, he went back to the surface. Taking a breather he examined the bag. There was a rock purposely tied onto it to make it sink. He tossed it onto the concrete dock before pulling himself out relieved that the bag was nowhere near big or heavy enough to contain Dick's oxygen deprived body.

Batman looked out across Tokyo bay taking note of the silhouette of the only ship out there. The detective took out a knife and opened the bag to see familiar garments including a phone, keys, and a wallet. Concern came back at this as he looked around the area. There was signs of a struggle, with some blood spots on the wall of a storage building and the ground. He put the soaked bag and a sample of the blood into the car and observed the storage building, it belonged to a company called 'Umisen'. Literally 'Ship'. Unless it's Chinese then it's 'Haichuan' which means 'Sea Ship'.

Not the biggest difference but the idea of it being 'Sea Ship' might imply that it only ships in the east and southeastern Asian waters. The ship seemed the most suspicious, but it was too far out right now and Batman doesn't have any of his special vehicles to go after it. It would take the Batplane at least an hour to get to Tokyo alone. Now he needed to buy a speedboat to keep at Tokyo Bay. This became one of those moments where Bruce _wished_ he really was the all prepared vigilante that all criminals feared. They may have caught him unprepared but whoever took Dick was definitely going to fear the Batman.

There wasn't much he could do other than passive aggressively follow the boat along the shoreline until it got to the ocean. There weren't any options for hot wiring, there was only large ships. He could try and intercept it at the Aqua Line, but he doubt it would go anywhere near the bridges before the road goes underground.

Thinking up pointless options to swoop in and retrieve Dick was wasting his time!

Batman stomped back to the car. He needed to get the Batplane here as soon as possible and take a look at Dick's belongings for any clues. Since they're all wet now, any DNA was washed off and he would have to rely on fabric fibers that might've rubbed off on Dick's garments during the struggle. Great, he'll get to know what their clothes are made out of.

God damnit.

He set up a camera that records when it detects movement. This area may be used again for whatever nefarious deeds happened here earlier. During the car ride back to his house here in Japan, he added to his notes again. He'll have to wait for a ransom letter for more clues. Making it into the small garage he saw Alfred wasn't back yet. He takes off his cowl and takes the bag to the basement and cleared off a table completely leaving the stuff on the ground while he laid out Dick's stuff. His phone was pretty much useless and now he knew why it stopped working - the water pressure broke it. He took out the SIM and SD card.

While those dry out, Batman went to the computer he kept down there and set up the program to connect it to the batcomputer back in Gotham. Alfred came back hours later. Bruce wasn't paying attention to the time, it was at least over an hour and a half because the Batplane landed in a remote area near Tokyo where one of his actual alternative base is. Walking into the basement, Alfred looked at the makeshift batcave and the mess Batman made. He picked up the papers and a deck of cards Dick was messing around with earlier that day and looked at Batman's findings saying, "I'm glad you made a task for me to take my mind off the situation. Are these not the garments Master Richard was wearing to the party?"

"Sorry about that and they are, I found them in Tokyo Bay," Batman replied not looking away from the screen.

" _In_ the bay, sir?"

"I followed the tracker to a harbor on Tokyo Bay, there was signs of a struggle and his clothes and personal belongings were in a bag thrown into the water."

"I see I don't need cancel his cards tonight," Alfred said examining Dick's wallet, the only thing missing was cash. He hinted, "Kinda peculiar if I may say so."

The credit cards were still there. Batman wasn't sure if that was because Japan mostly uses physical money to the point where quite a few store don't accept credit whatsoever or the guys who took Dick didn't want any way of tracking them. They did throw his clothes away, probably to get rid of any trackers. He was starting to think of the Yakuza again. They have enough members and have been around long enough to learn from past mistakes. Right now he just needed to test the DNA and scan Dick's suit. Since Bruce didn't give any answer other than a thoughtful look, Alfred continued cleaning up the mess. It got late and Alfred made coffee for Bruce since the likelihood of either of them getting any sleep was very low.

"Alfred, you should get some sleep," Bruce tells the older gentlemen around six in the morning. He's confirmed the blood from the harbor to be Dick's and found very little on his clothes. Now he's researching the Yakuza and any other crime groups that could be in Tokyo.

"I appreciate the sentiments, Master Bruce," Alfred replies setting down Bruce's third cup of coffee that morning, "But I fear that even sleeping pills couldn't put my worried mind to sleep whilst my most youngest charge is missing. Have you found anything of interest?"

Bruce sighed, "Not much, just that Dick was brought to the harbor - he was probably on that boat I saw, but there was no way for me to get to it then and now. It was an MPV ship. Logs from the harbor tell me that the Haichaun company had a shipment that came in about a month ago, but there hasn't been any reports of the ship leaving, not only that but the company has been known for not accurately writing down when they come and leave."

Alfred found that as suspicious as Bruce did, "Was there a name for the boat?"

"They've had several different boats throughout the year, they say it's because of 'mechanical difficulties' every time. They've even rebought a few before selling them again. They've had over 200 different ships since the 90s."

"Difficulties with _every_ ship?"

"I was going to go talk with some of the people who own previous ships the company has owned to look in on that," Bruce explained, "And these guys."

Bruce had connected his computer to the TV at some point during the early morning and displayed pictures of three men. Bruce continued explaining, "Fuhua Luo, Hisao Goda, and Seiji Fujikawa."

"Fuhua Luo is Chinese."

"He's the CEO of a shipping company called 'Haichaun', and the other two are the presidents of the Japanese branch. Fuhua's company operates in the east and southeastern Asia coastlines. Looking at his background, he doesn't seem to have any past crime related involvements. Seiji has a clean background as well however Hisao has family connections to several Chinese and and Japanese gangs including the Yakuza."

"Do you think Fuhua is aware of these activities?" Alfred asked.

"I would have to see, he should at least know about the log discrepancies because the Tokyo Bay Water Patrol had contacted him directly once recently. Either he's letting them get by or it could be Hisao is a rogue employee."

"You might just sympathize with Fuhua then. And of Seiji?"

"He might be aware but turning a blind eye to it. He'll be the first one I visit tonight."

The phone started to ring after that fact, Bruce paused the presentation, not that there was much left, as Alfred went to pick it up. After a few minutes Alfred came back. "It was the police, they wanted to come by within the hour to give updates and see you specifically."

Batman swore under his breathe. He had to get changed and hide Dick's stuff before the police could put him under suspicion of getting rid of his own ward. He wasn't there to report it which makes him a suspect. He imagined Alfred told them he was busy looking for Dick at the time of the report, which wasn't false in the slightest. "Alfred, you hide Dick's stuff while I get changed."

"Right away sir."

Bruce ran upstairs and into the garage to get his original clothes from the car before rushing back inside to his bedroom. It wasn't long until there was a ring from the doorbell. Alfred called up that he'll get it while Bruce tried to finish tying his tie before giving up, he doesn't need the tie anyways, it would be weird if he was looking his best anyways. Alfred led two policemen into the living room when Bruce came down with his passport and home ownership papers. Japan was very strict on illegal aliens, so legit foreigners had to constantly present evidence that they're there legally. Bruce thought it was a hassle but he didn't think arguing about it was ever a good idea.

" _Any news_?" Bruce asked in their native tongue, he got a bit annoyed by their answer.

"We need to see identification and passports first," Officer 'Kimura' answered in English. This guy's accent is tolerable. Although Batman doesn't need the police, they're helpful in getting the populace to step forward with information he wouldn't have ever known. "Sorry for coming so suddenly, but we had to see Richard's guardian for information."

Bruce nodded, "Understandable. Can I get any updates first?"

"There were some people who say they did see Richard but don't know where he went. Any witnesses that may have seen something important probably went home before we started asking."

Bruce asked, "So you'll try and get their attention through the media right?"

"We've notified some of the media so they'll make a segment on it," Officer Kimura said while his buddy, Officer Kohaku, was looking at their passports, "Does Richard have a passport?"

"Yes, but he had it with him."

"Okay, we'll need Richard's basic information next - birthday, birthplace, nicknames, etc. We'll also need a photo of Richard and a description with any distinguishable marks like scars or tattoos."

Alfred left to grab a photo while Bruce gave Dick's basic information and explained his appearance while Officer Kimura wrote down notes. "-He has a scar on his back and shoulder blade from a different time he was kidnapped."

"Are there photos of those?"

"Yeah, we used them in court, we'd have to get copies from Gotham," Bruce explain.

"I'll get the photos as soon as possible," Alfred said handing a photo to Officer Kohaku.

Officer Kimura continued after finishing writing down the scar information, "We'll need to know current and previous addresses."

"I have a lot of houses," Bruce mumbled before mentioning, "He lived in a traveling circus with his parents before they were murdered."

Kimura stopped for a second before writing that down. "Any ransom letters?"

"No..." That was a sudden jump, they've hardly begun the missing person report. Speaking of ransom notes, that's what made Bruce angry, it's been 10 hours now. He should have received one already. In missing children cases the chance of them being alive after 3 is extremely low. But Dick has always been considered more valuable alive than dead. Just the fact he hasn't gotten a letter yet bothered him, but he's had at least one other time it took the kidnappers two days - he's pretty sure they only did that to purposely tick him off.

Officer Kimura seemed a bit lost at that before writing it down and saying, "I'll let the chief know."

"Have there been a lot of cases like this?"

"I'll ask the questions, Mr. Wayne," Kimura sighed making it seem less rude, it was a genuine sigh which made Bruce curious. They finished the report with no more problems.

"Okay, one last question then we'll be on our way and we'll call you if we learn anything new."

"Okay."

"Do you know a Shin Taka?"

"Isn't that Ryusei Taka's daughter?"

Officer Kimura nodded, "Yes, we were told to ask because she disappeared last night in the same area as well."

" _Yesterday two individuals have vanished here in Tokyo. Shin Taka, the official Ryusei Taka's daughter, was out with friends when she vanished around 10:15 p.m. last night. Richard Grayson, a foreigner from the U.S. and ward of Bruce Wayne, CEO of WayneTech, had disappeared around 10:25 in the same area. He also goes by the name of 'Dick'. Two other women had also been reported missing but it is unknown if they are correlated to these two's disappearance. If you were in the area around this time, please contact this number to give any details that may lead to the whereabouts of these individuals._ "


	3. Chapter 3

There was no telling how long they'd be sailing for. They could spend months getting to the western hemisphere, or just a few days north, south, or east. On the first day no one talked except for the two guards and the occasional sobbing from one of the woman. Not everyone was gifted with a cage, some, most of the men, were chained to the wall. One of the men starting picking a fight with a guard and that went as well as you would expect. Dick was always listening to the guards when they were chatting. Most of the time they talked about work stuff and the occasional life stories like they were long time co-workers. One had a job outside this gig, a real normal job of pottery. The other one was a sailor who worked for the company. The hirelings were smart enough to not mention details about their current job. They never said any names and when they do they gave them code names or just seem to know who the other is talking about. Other than that it was very quiet and Dick didn't really know what to do or say.

He did think about ways of contacting Batman. If he could snatch one of their cell phones he could send a call to Batman then he could trace the call. But the guards never came near and generally kept to their side of the area near the door. If he could get out, he could find a radio and reach out to him - _if_ he could get out. He didn't have any tools so there wasn't any way to pick the lock. He was only given bread at some point during the first day, and even then they just tossed the fist sized loaf between the bars. Dick decided to try and savor the food by eating small bites slowly. It was later Dick started to feel cramped in the space he had. He tried some stretch exercises and felt a little better afterwards, but it wasn't as good as doing flips and tricks. It was almost pitch black at night if not for a lantern the guards had. The guards switch shifts every few hours.

Dick tried to daydream a little to pass the time but honestly there wasn't much to think about. The mood is very somber and sour, he was sure everyone else was worrying about where they were going and if they were going to be able to see their family and friends ever again. Dick would be lying if their worries didn't rub off on him. It was scary, he won't admit it outright, but it was. He's with a bunch of strangers and completely powerless. He kept himself wrapped in the blanket because it was cold - and it made him feel a little better.

The second day he woke up and his body screamed for a good stretch that he could not provide. The guards weren't there for some reason and left the dozen of unfortunate souls alone for once. A few decided to chat in low murmurs. Dick wasn't in the talkative mood until some hours later his thoughts were interrupted.

"I'm sorry…" A small voice muttered. Dick looked over to one of the Japanese woman that was in the car two nights ago. She was much older than him, somewhere in her early twenties. She was given a long shirt instead of a blanket that was almost long enough to be a dress. The others were given whatever there was after their personal belongings were taken away. The woman had her legs tucked up to her body with her oversized shirt wrapped over them. Dick remembered doing that a lot in the winter with his coat and waddled around telling Bruce he was a penguin while Bruce forgot why they were at the park in the first place, with no help from Dick. He should sleep more often on Saturdays after a nice snowstorm. It's not like criminals liked doing bad things while they can hardly feel their toes.

The woman had wavy black hair that went slightly past her shoulders with bangs that parted above her left eye. They were long enough to brush her eye lashes. She had thin gradual eyebrows with dark brown eyes. Her eyes were downcast like the others but it was made clear that the apology was to Dick.

"Sorry for what?" Dick asked. He was quiet and his throat was dry from lack of water and the dry salty air.

"I was banging on the trunk roof to try and open it or get someone's attention and I ended up getting you in trouble too," Her pronunciation was nice, she must've live somewhere that spoke mainly English for a few years or learnt it when she was young, maybe one of her parents is just fluent.

Dick wasn't sure how to respond to her at first. Usually he would say, 'That's no problem!' or say, 'That's okay,', to apologies but this isn't okay and they have a very big problem. Clearly she's asking for forgiveness, like a final confession. It must've been eating her up inside knowing she got a little kid involved trying to save herself. There was no right reply and always an upsetting idea. After thinking about it for a little bit he just looked at the ground and said, "Don't worry about it."

The woman was silent for a short while as if contemplating if she accepted that. How could she not worry? How could she not be upset? Dick didn't really blame her and felt some empathy, Bruce always told him he beat himself up too much for mistakes he couldn't control. Like he was one to talk, when Robin got seriously hurt once, Batman was incredible moody and thought over plans and went over each and every one of their fighting dynamics to find a way to make it so Dick had a lesser chances of being hurt. Alfred said the whole situation looked like two beavers debating about how to fix the hole, but they never fix it because they're too busy wondering how the hole got there in the first place.

Then Alfred scolded Bruce for giving him bad habits then Bruce argued about Shakespeare and they got into an argument about Hamlet and Gertrude, then Dick lost it after, 'That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, of habits devil, is angel yet in this,' and left to go play video games.

She finally spoke up after a short silence, "I'm Shin Taka."

"I'm Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick," Dick greeted with a small smile; he kinda disliked the anti-socialness of the situation. He took a second thinking about her family name, "I think I met your dad before, is he some official?"

"Yeah…" she answered slowly looking the other way before quickly looking back, "You're Wayne's kid, right? My dad mentioned that he was going to a business party for Waynetech because he's helped Wayne before with legal stuff in Japan."

"Yeah, I was at the party before leaving early 'cause I was tired."

"I was out drinking with friends."

She turned sad at that fact. She was probably wondering if she'll ever get to go to a bar again and have a blissful night of laughter and games. Dick was thinking about how Leader Guy mentioned that her dad's taken bribes. She being here was probably what those guys meant by 'getting back' at Taka. Dick looked at her again but she seemed lost in thought. A guard came in a few minutes later hushing whoever was still chatting. He looked at everyone with tired eyes and muttered some things to himself as he reached into his pocket. He was loosely holding onto his rifle with his other hand pointing the barrel toward the floor. These guys were very casual with how they handled their guns - that made Dick wonder if they were idiotic or the gun wasn't even loaded. He didn't want to learn that answer honestly. The guard took out a cigarette and lit one and even offered them to the captured individuals who some gladly accepted. This guard didn't care, he was probably late because he wanted to sleep a little longer - a few hours longer - and Dick kinda liked him because of that.

" _Where are we going anyways?_ " Dick asked since this guard seemed to be willing to answer some questions.

" _China. We'll probably be there by tomorrow morning maybe,_ " The guard said offering Dick a cig as well to which he declined. The guard rolled his eyes at that, " _This'll probably be the last cig you'll ever be offered._ "

" _What's going to happen to us?_ " Shin asked butting in.

" _I don't know. We kidnap people then sell them. Definitely going to end up some sort of slave,_ " The guard said sitting down balancing the butt of his rifle between his crossed legs and resting it against his shoulder, " _Depends on who's interested in you and who pays the most._ "

The room was starting to fill with smoke and Dick disliked it. The guard opened the door and left it open to let some air in. No one spoke after that fact, but Mr. Guard here wasn't going to let the silence stay, " _One time some guy bought a wife. Crazy thing. I mean, we do try and get pretty people, but a lot of people gave him crap for it. Once in a lifetime thing though. I heard she somehow got back in touch with her family._ "

That made everyone cheer up a little. That there was a chance you could get back to your family. But like the guy said, kinda a once in a lifetime thing, but it still carried some sliver of hope. The woman who was crying on the first day spoke up, her voice quavering laced with malice, " _Why do you do this? Take us away, and sell us like animals?_ "

" _When there is demand, there will be supply._ "

Dick's heard that saying before and asks curiously, " _Why is there demand for people?_ "

" _Mostly for labor. Regular people, with lives and ambitions, are too expensive,_ " The guard explained, " _And if people think they can get away with something, they will do it._ "

" _So you think you won't be caught?_ "

" _I have backup plans if we're caught, so no, not for me,_ " Mr. Guard said with a shrug.

Shin quirked an eyebrow, " _Why even accept a job like this?_ "

" _The Black Market is like, a one way street. You can't try it. Once you partake in providing the supply, you're screwed. If you quit you could be killed, end up_ _ **being**_ _the supply, or someone rats you out to the feds._ "

" _Why not ask for protection from the police?_ "

" _Well, first off: I don't have plans to quit. There isn't any job out there that would pay me as well as this one. Sure you could get your hands cut off and tortured, but hey… it's better than retail._ "

Dick was getting interested, he's never talked with a bad guy without Batman threatening to break their arm. He also worried about who and why someone would sell people and where he'd end up. He hoped Batman would find him before unfixable things happen. Dick continued curiously, " _I don't get it though. By the whole thinking you could get away with it. I mean, I could buy a bunch of candy without Bruce noticing, but I don't._ "

" _You have morals. These people just don't care. Labor's a popular demand, but for some jobs, they require a lot of people, and it's just too expensive to follow the UN's human rights policies and hire people. It's cheaper to buy people to work for free for the rest of their lives with no limit on hours. And since there's demand for free labor, there're organizations who will kidnap people to meet their demands for money._ "

" _So people are lazy!_ "

" _Well-_ " Mr. Guard had a good hearty laugh at that, " _Okay, but there's still the interest of money as well._ "

" _So they're lazy_ _ **and**_ _greedy._ "

" _They're a lot of things. You'll figure it out._ "

" _Well I already know they're not nice - I just never got why people would do that._ "

" _Most people don't get it unless they end up in the same boat. Uh - pun not intentional,_ " Mr. Guard nodded with a quick realization. Dick couldn't help but smile, he'll have to remember that one. Mr. Guard continued diverting the conversation away from the meaning of his job, " _Say kid, what's so special about you other than enjoying psychological talk and asking a lot of questions?_ "

" _What do you mean?_ "

" _Well clearly you're not Japanese,_ " Mr. Guard said motioning his hand at Dick. Shin reclosed into a tight ball again at his next question, " _We don't take special requests, usually, so how'd you end up being snatched?_ "

Dick didn't fully get the question but got the jist of it, " _Wrong place at the wrong time I guess._ "

He couldn't tell if Mr. Guard accepted that cliché of an answer, but Mr. Guard didn't push it any further. As far as Dick could tell, that was partially true. He really should've just gotten the license plate number and told Bruce or Alfred instead of being a curious kitten. Mr. Guard was switched out not too long later - he must've slept through most of his shift, the insane man. Dick wondered why even have guards almost all the time when there's no way of any of them escaping if they're on a boat. Okay, maybe Dick could escape if he found a way to unlock the cage.

He wasn't able to tell what time it was other than when it was day or night - so he was certain it was late on the second day. They were given another loaf of bread for their daily meal. Dick was starting to feel queasy from the lack of nutrients, but there wasn't anything he could do about it other than sleep through it. Or at least try. He didn't get much sleep which wasn't the best thing since the next morning they woke up the prisoners early. He wrapped the blanket around his body like a toga. They had docked some hours ago from what he could tell since there wasn't much movement going on. There were more guards this time in the hidden area, most of them only had handguns and the guard who was watching them before wasn't with them. They were debating about procedures because one of the guys was a bit new.

" _You want to get the kid and the govie girl?_ " One of them with glasses asked a guy with longer, gel spiked hair.

Gel Spikey shrugged his shoulders looking to the shackles he was holding with his other hand in his pocket, " _Can these even fit on a kid?_ "

" _Use rope then._ "

" _Then Uzaki should, he's better at tying knots,_ " Gel Spikey said turning to who Dick assumed was Uzaki. Uzaki looked at the two guards with tired eyes before sighing and taking out a bundle of thin rope out of seemingly nowhere. Uzaki strode over to the door of Dick's cage with a key. Dick glared at him and Uzaki stopped and glared back.

" _Don't do something stupid, kid,_ " He warned with a deep gruff-y voice. It was probably the best advice someone could give him, but Dick was having none of that and prepared to spring out the door. Uzaki was shoving it harder and whipped out a way too fancy flintlock pistol. Dick decided to heed the warning and relaxed his muscles - his legs were numb anyways. Uzaki swung the door open and grabbed his wrists and yanked Dick out onto the floor. The man put his knee on Dick's back as he tied his hands together over his head. Dick wiggled on the ground unable to do much more. The weight released after the rope was secure and tight. Before Dick could get up Uzaki was already pulled on the lead made with the extra rope urging him to get up already. He keeps his toga from falling off with his arms pressed against his sides.

Dick stumbled onto his feet as the guy led him out through the door. He winced at the light change and rubbed his eyes. He was wobbly on his feet at first, but by the time they reached the door leading outside of the ship and stepped onto a cold metal bridge he was able to keep up. It was the early morning, so the sun was just peaking over the horizon in the sky. Looking around, there wasn't much. It almost seemed like they stopped at a random shore if it wasn't for the small port made there. It was a large bay that was surrounded by dirt sandy mountains that were large enough to obscure any visuals. There was also an unpaved road about thirty feet from the shore looping between the hills, but between that was a truck that Uzaki was leading Dick to. Uzaki tugs on the end of the rope saying, " _Get in_."

Dick glared at him for a second before looking back toward the ship for a second. His roommates were not too far behind him, though Shin was also separated like Dick. They all ended up in the truck. Dick was in the far corner with Shin and it was cramped. The only guard was Glasses Guy who sat on a chair bolted to the floor next to the only exit with a rifle laid across his lap. He was just dozing off, this reminded Dick that he was still tired and closed his eyes resting his head against his knees. Shin was next to him playing with her hair, checking the ends and twirling clumps around. The ride was bumpy and they were on some winding road before finding asphalt. He hadn't meant to, but he fell asleep like when he would watch TV with Bruce some nights over the summer.

However instead of waking up in the morning in his warm bed with faint memories of the last episode, he was abruptly awoke by Shin shaking him slightly. There wasn't going to be a moment that day where Bruce and him try to figure out what episode and at what point he fell asleep at. And they go through two-thirds of an episode before he would speak up and say, ' **You know… I think I did watch this episode.** '

He was fully awake when Shin told him that they stopped. He rubbed his eyes again and was thankful that Shin didn't mind him leaning so much against her. They had thin connections, but that was more than enough for the situation they're in. Dick started to get frustrated, he was trained by Batman, the World's Greatest Detective, and he was stuck. He could untie the rope, but then what? That's what made him hesitate.

He doesn't know where he is.

Somewhere in China as far as he knows.

"How long was I asleep?" He asked to have some sort of idea of distance.

"Around two hours I think," Shin whispered still playing with her hair. Dick noticed the guard had left and the truck wasn't on. A faint curiosity tugged him to try and open the door to see if anyone was outside, but some voices stopped him. He couldn't understand them and assumed they were speaking Chinese. He knew very little. He was planning on learning it next because there were similarities between Japanese and Chinese vocab wise, after all, Kanji is pretty much borrowed Chinese words a lot of times. He might be able to vaguely understand it if it was written down. Shin was also listening with her eyes closed. He wondered if she knew Chinese.

The voices got louder in annoyance. It ended with what Dick assumed was a 'Bye' before the door opened. They were greeted by Gel Spikey with a rifle strapped around his shoulder. He looked over them for a second before turning back to someone out of view and telling him something.

He thought over what Batman told him about trafficking rings. Enough information to at least recognize one. Batman did say there was some sort of meeting between the people who kidnapped and those who actually enslave people, that's why it's so hard to track down everyone involved especially since they mostly do transactions in cash. It's these meetings where they're the absolute most vulnerable. Dick wondered if Batman was following along and was going to save him during then. Seemed like something he would do. Making Dick unintentional bait.

He _hoped_ Batman was doing that at least, but there was no sign of him.

It must've been well into the night by the time they were finally led out of the truck. Dick was relieved by the fresh air - it gets hot and humid when you leave a bunch of people in an enclosed space for half a day. He hopped out of the back of the truck that was in a large warehouse, there was some other people milling around with bodyguards. They wore more expensive clothing to show off their status, they were either the bosses or their representative.

Gel Spikey led Shin and him from the rest of the group. Dick was kinda thankful that he was staying with her. Gel Spikey had tied the end of the rope of Dick's lead to Shin's shackles and guided them with the barrel of a gun pointed at Shin's back. They were brought to the side next to the wall and stayed there for a short time before Leader Guy came up with some Chinese woman who had that look Bruce has when a meeting get changed on the fly.

" _Are these them?_ " The lady asked thankfully in Japanese.

" _Yup_ ," Leader Guy says handing two passports to the lady who looked over them with a quizzical look.

" _I get the girl, but why the boy?_ "

" _Got in the way_ ," Leader Guy shrugged before adding, " _He also happens to have a circus background too- thought you might be interested in that_."

" _Which circus?_ " She asked with a bit of interest.

" _Some circus from Europe, they're currently in America right now_." The lady quirked an eyebrow before pulling out her phone. Leader Guy looked at her phone a bit annoyed, " _You know they can track smartphones easier than flip phones_."

The lady scuffed at him something about proxies and VPNs before continuing typing on it. Dick internally smiled thinking about Batman, Leader Guy was right, and if Batman wasn't tailing behind, he will be soon if she's going to look him up.

Shin finally spoke up a bit confused, " _What exactly do you buy people for?_ "

Both of them looked at her for a second before the lady spoke up, " _I get workers for my boss for his side business._ "

" _What_ _ **kind**_ _of business?_ "

" _Depends_ ," The lady shrugged with a smirk looking at her phone again with a frown. She turned to Leader Guy, " _What about his guardian? He's bound to have good connections._ "

" _He was quick to find his kid missing, but we were already long gone by the time the feds started taking things more seriously,_ " Leader Guy explained, " _We'll probably stay away from snatching and hang around the sea until it dies down. And I wouldn't recommend trying to ransom the kid; no one's ever been successful with that._ "

" _And of his own investigation?_ "

" _I got someone working on that, no extra charge for you_ ," Leader Guy said with a mocking grin.

" _You've peaked my interest, but he would stick out really badly,_ " the lady continued turning with an emphasis on her head motion and walking away without looking back as she says, " _I'll talk to my boss about it._ "

Leader Guy also left to talk with some other people leaving Dick and Shin with Gel Spikey watching them. Shin was pretty mad. Maybe she connected the dots that she was here because these guys wanted to get back at her father, or she was annoyed about something else. Dick found himself lost again. It wasn't a great feeling, but he still held hope that Batman might show up. He turned to Shin after a little while, "Why do you think they're interested in the circus?"

Shin started for a second, thinking his question over with a puzzled look. She finally looked down to him, "You know what, I'm not sure. Is there anything they said to you before now?"

"Leader Guy said something about finding this new life familiar."

Shin gave him a confused look when Dick referred to the man as 'Leader Guy' before softening up a bit, "And they were talking about your circus background? You were in a circus?"

"Yeah."

"What was the circus called?"

"Haly's Circus."

"What did you do?"

"Mostly trapeze."

"Mostly?"

"Well - I could do some normal bar stuff, and anything related to gymnastics," Dick felt a little better, he always did when he talked about the good old days in Haly's Circus. Her next question made him turn somber however.

"You sure can do a lot. How'd you end up with Mr. Wayne?"

"My parents were murdered while we were in Gotham. Bruce took me in 'cause he lost his parents when he was little too and I had nowhere to go but the orphanage."

"What happened to the guy who murdered your parents?" She asked uncertain if that was a good question but still curious.

"He tried to hide but Batman and Robin still got him," Dick said with a smile and straightening his back up with his chin high. Shin took that as just being happy that justice was served.

She then frowned, "Batman?"

"You've never heard of him?" Dick asked startled.

"I may have heard of him once…" Shin lied trying to skirt it, "I don't pay much attention to crime and the news and that kind of stuff."

"He fights criminals and saves people," Dick explained looking at his feet.

"Does he fight with a bat?"

"No, he dresses up like the animal. He looks scary a lot of the time, but he's actually nice."

"I think a guy dressing up like a bat seems more silly than scary."

"He's pretty silly too."

"Does he only work in America?"

"He mostly stays in Gotham, but he sometimes goes elsewhere."

There were a few guys who just arrived and at once took over the entire floor. Dick wondered if the whole selling thing was going to happen soon, however the lady came back and Leader Guy came back at that notion. The lady began first, " _My boss has accepted the terms of you latest offer, however, he also wants Wayne taken care of as well._ "

" _The guy I hired should be doing something by the end of the week if Wayne keeps up the high profile,_ " Leader Guy replied seeming happy.

Dick got a bit wary, " _Do what to Bruce?_ "

" _If he cooperates - nothing much._ "

The lady clapped her hands together with a stern expression to end all discussions. She handed the briefcase to Leader Guy saying, " _Well then, I spent the money I was granted for this shindig, so I suppose I'll get going. Mind if I borrow you're gunman for a bit?_ "

" _Go ahead,_ " Leader Guy waved his hand sticking a cigar in his mouth, " _My gang will be leaving soon since we dropped off the cargo, I've only stayed as long as I have because of you._ "

" _I'm never here often. Usually we get our workers from Nepal or India or Myanmar, not Japan._ "

" _It'll be worth it, probably,_ " Leader Guy says as he starts to walk off, " _Just remember to keep the deal. I'll call your boss for the rest._ "

The lady snapped her finger at Gel Spikey and motioned for them to follow her. As much as Dick didn't want to go with her, he didn't have much of a say since Shin seemed like she rather do that then get shot. She gently pushes Dick toward the direction the lady was heading. Dick was hesitant; he can't leave now, what if Batman just misses them? He felt the feeling of panic rise up and stopped in his tracks again. Gel Spikey didn't have time for this, and picked up Dick by the abdomen. He struggled against the larger man's side yelling all the way out the door.


End file.
